1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to athletic equipment and, more particularly, to athletic equipment including sensors and feedback monitors to allow the tracking of effectiveness of training and health of the athlete.
2. Description of the Related Art
Typically, many types of sports and training activity require the monitoring of athlete performance. In the many varieties of cardiovascular exercise, the athlete themselves may wish to monitor heart rate in order to maintain the peak benefits of exercise. In contact sports, such as football, boxing, kick boxing, and martial arts, such monitoring is prevented due to the use of protective gear in both competition and training. Such protective gear usually includes some form of padding surrounding an area of the body that is subject to impact. Additionally, the possibility of impact while engaging in such activities poses additional difficulties in monitoring an athlete's physical condition.
Further, many competitive sports include monitoring of athletic performance as a measure of success or for purposes of tracing statistics. The speed of an athlete in the 40-yard dash, or speed of a pitcher's fastball, while determinative of the overall athletic contest, are statistics that enthusiast follow anyway. However, in contact sports, such as football, boxing, kick boxing, and martial arts, such monitoring of the force of any contact is currently not possible and, as such, not available to fans of such activities.
A search of the prior art did not disclose any patents that read directly on the claims of the instant invention; however, the following references were considered related.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,349,201, issued in the name of Ford, discloses a bullet-proof vest with a built-in impact sensor in the exterior layers. Once a hit is detected, the status of the wearer is monitored and a distress signal is remotely transmitted, if necessary. Such a ‘garment’, however, it not a piece of athletic equipment and is designed not for use in optimizing athlete performance, but rather for passively tracking received impact for circumstantially identifying distress in law enforcement or military personnel.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,913,559, issued in the name of Smith, teaches a weight-lifting glove that has a pressure sensor to monitor the pressure exerted during weightlifting. The force measured is then displayed on an LCD screen. Such a ‘garment’, however, merely incorporates a load cell to identify the amount of force exerted as an isometric feedback mechanism to replace the use of or emulate the functionality of a separate exercise equipment, and is not designed for use in optimizing athlete performance or monitoring athlete physiology.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,471,405, issued in the name of Marsh, teaches a show with a built-in pressure sensor to measure the forces on the athlete's foot during running. The sensor sends the data to a processor which relays to information to a transmitter for sending to a remote location. Again, such a ‘garment’, however, it not a piece of athletic equipment and is designed not for use in optimizing athlete performance, but rather merely for tracking a single parameter, impact force between ground and shoe, for the coach to later analyze for purposes of an iterative training regime.
Also, U.S. Pat. No. 5,195,752, issued in the name of Reeves et al. discloses a shirt that can be worn during paint ball games. The shirt has a built-in sensor which detects when the user is hit and displays a message. Again, such a ‘garment’, however, it not a piece of athletic equipment and is merely a wearable ‘target’ with a uniquely implemented annunciator.
Finally, U.S. Patent Publication 2006/0047447, published in the name of Brady et al., teaches monitoring athletes performance during a athletic event. Such teachings, however, fail to allow for training in addition to just the event, and requires a computing device outside the ring for read out because of the provision of a readout on the gloves. Additionally, the system taught in this reference requires three types of gloves or monitors as compared to the present invention, in which all are integrated and no outside display computing is required.
In essence, such related art are designed to monitor the performance of the equipment itself, and not physiological performance of the athlete himself. Nor is such equipment adaptable for both monitoring of athlete training, as well as for determination of athlete statistics during competition. Consequently, a need has been felt for providing an apparatus and method of monitoring an athlete's vital signs such as pulse rate, blood pressure, breathing rate, etc. during athletic performance in a manner that is transmittable through audio and/or visual outputs.